Labels to show country of origin on food following frozen berry hepatitis A outbreak

Green and gold kangaroo labels will show consumers how much of their food contains local ingredients and whether it was made in Australia, but the changes have been criticised by a consumer advocate for not requiring the origin of non-local ingredients.

Pauline Hanson's stunt

Pauline Hanson's stunt

Country of origin labeling introduced

New compulsory labels will show what percentage of a product is in grown in Australia.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce unveiled the new food labels on Tuesday, saying some businesses would start using them on a voluntary basis before the end of the year.

"If a product has got the green and gold kangaroo triangle, it is made or processed in Australia," Mr Abbott said. "If the product has the gold bar, the product is Australian."

The gold bar will display the proportion of local ingredients used in the food product.

From next year, Australian manufacturers will be required to carry the labels, which, are the result of a four-month senate inquiry into country-of-origin food labelling laws. The review was called after 28 people were infected with hepatitis A from frozen berries imported from China in February.

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Asked how the labels would help prevent similar future outbreaks, Mr Abbott was quick to distinguish the labels from food safety standards. "Different people might have different views about where you are most likely to be confident in the quality of your food.

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"But they are two separate issues. We are dealing with one. Obviously it is up to the various levels of government to deal with the other."

Companies will also be encouraged to provide more information on where significant ingredients, including milk, pork and certain vegetables, come from.

Australian food businesses would pay about $37 million more a year to take up the new labels. He noted that such businesses were already required to carry country of origin labels but that this was "not always enforced". They were also required to carry nutritional information on their products.

The cost of the new labels was expected to be passed on to consumers at a rate of 1¢ for $5 products, and 0.5¢ on $2.50 products.

Mr Joyce said that 80 per cent of more than 17,000 consumers the government surveyed were willing to pay more for the labels.

"This goes to show the consumer is willing to pay for better information. Across all products and also other manufactured goods there is actually a saving."

The labels could also lead to a greater sales of domestic food products, Mr Joyce said: "Talking to Woolworths and...other people, they have said when they clearly label a product as Australian, there is an uptake in the sale of that product because inherently people see a reason for them to buy Australian and this gives them that clear and unambiguous indicator of that."

Companies can currently display labels stating a product is made from local and imported ingredients without breaking down how much of the product was grown in Australia.

Consumer groups have complained that labels that say "made in Australia" are confusing as they give the impression a product was grown in Australia when that might not be the case.

Tom Godfrey, a spokesman for consumer group Choice, which has campaigned for clearer labels, said that the proposed changes were an improvement, but did not require manufacturers to specify where non-local ingredients have been sourced from.

"For example, claims such as 'Made in Australia from more than 50% Australian ingredients' will have you asking if your frozen berries come from China, Canada or Chile," Mr Godfrey said.

"Unfortunately the new system leaves it up to the manufacturers to voluntarily declare the origin of a product's main ingredient."

"Choice is deeply concerned that global trade agreements might have provided an excuse to deny consumers the full picture of where their food comes from, especially at a time when agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership are being finalised in secret."

Mr Godfrey said manufacturers should make it clear where all their ingredients are sourced from "and take on board the option to list the main ingredients of their products".